“Ne-han-e is the annual memorial service of Shakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism who died at 80 years of age. After his death, his disciples gathered from all directions and divided his cremated remains into eight parts. They enshrined these parts in stupas in order to preserve the memory of the Buddha.

Over the centuries, the ashes were divided and re-divided many times. The stupa at the Buddhist Church of San Francisco enshrines a small portion of the Buddha’s remains that was donated to the Buddhist Churches of America in 1935 by the King of Siam (now Thailand).

Note: Japanese Buddhists and Mahayana Buddhists, in general, observe Shakyamuni Buddha’s birth (see Hanamatsuri), Enlightenment (see Bodhi Day) and death on three separate dates. The Theravada tradition observes all three events as having occurred in the first full moon date of the fifth month, a major holiday known as Wesak or Visakha.”

— Source: Midwest Buddhist Temple Jodo Shinshu Buddhism